Progression of cleaning up your eating habits.

 This post is for all of the newbies out there- both pre op and post op.  I just want to share about how important cleaning up your eating habits will be.  The sleeve is a magnifcent tool, but it cannot do all of the work for you.  

With that said, I also think it is very difficult to go from one day with the terrible eating habits that got all of us in this situation to begin with and right over to good clean eating habits the very next day.  For me, it has been a progression of constant improvement over small increments.

Last September is when i attended the weight loss seminar and frankly I was at rock bottom.  I had gained over 40 pounds the previous summer and felt completely out of control with the eating habits.  I knew by the end of the seminar that I was going to pursue WLS and set up the first series of appointments.  I also decided to start right then to work on losing weight for the surgery.  I took the whole shrink the liver thing seriously.

That first month my biggest accomplishment was simply that I stopped gaining weight.  This was a brutal and frustrating month and I had many transgressions.  But, at the end of the month I acknowledged that despite no weight loss progress had been made simply because I managed to stop gaining.

Into October now I decided to go on the liquid 4 + 1 diet that would be required for the two weeks prior to surgery.  I knew I needed to lose 5-10% before surgery, and getting pounds off was terribly difficult- perhaps due to my insulin resistance??  Anyway, I did a PERFECT two weeks and I was feeling very proud of my better habits- then realized after weighing in I did not lose one freaking pound.  The poor habits kicked in again, binged, blah blah blah and it took a several days to recover from that weigh in.  There was something about the diet and/or starting the ursidiol that caused problems for the kidneys which in turn caused blood in the urine and massive water retention.  Once the water retention was resolved, I had lost some weight.  I learned from this not to freak out about the scale, and if I was feeling frustrated by it to just stay away for a while.  

I kept at it.  I reduced shakes to one meal a day and made smarter choices for the rest of the day.  Still had transgressions here and there, but the weight started to come off a little.  Into November I was starting to worry I would not get off the minimim set by the surgeon.  The eating habits continued to improve and now I noticed that what my "transgression" would be now was significantly less then my old terrible habits.  I still had work to do, but clearly improving.

In the two weeks before surgery I had a food funeral at 5 Guys and a slip up or two during that week.  I managed to take of 26 pounds pre op though and made HUGE progress in cleaning up my eating habits.

Now, 2 months out I still struggle with an occasional transgression.  Over the last month my calories were under 800 (usually under 700) for all but three days.  I still have work to do, but it is getting longer and longer between my slip ups and I plan on continuing to work very hard at this.  
Elina posted a topic about "a ***** in your armor" that I recommend you read if any of this resonates with you.  It is about falling off the wagon and crawling right back on for the long term versus just emotionally throwing in the towel.  

Best of luck on your journey, happyteacher

You are so right, this is a process, a life long process at that.  Here I am at 2.5 years out and in maintenance for two years, and I am still learning every single day.  I think the real danger is to think, "I am cured of obesity and I don't have to keep a vigilan****ch and a beginner's mind set".   That is a sure fire way to regain for most of us.  I strongly believe that it is important to continue to work on our food issues and our head issues around food in order to stay on top of our game.  One of the big pieces of this, just like you mentioned, is to learn to look at our transgressions with food differently.  Each "transgression" is really nothing more than an opportunity to learn more about our head issues.  It is not a moral failing and in truth can be a conduit to a great lesson and a stronger self.  As long as we are breathing, we are learning and thank goodness for that.  Thank you for your post, I really liked reading it.  We are all just walking the walk to a better, healthier and joyful future. Good luck to all of us.

Thanks for this post. It acts as a reminder for me that this is a process and I can't beat myself up if I make a mistake. I am in this for the long haul and I really do need to give myself credit for the positive and healthy changes I have made in the last several months!

I occurred to me this morning that my mantra is going to be: "Healthy is the goal, skinny just might be a bonus!!"  I am very much a mantra type person, helps me to focus, and I really am trying to get  my thinking in line before I have surgery (65 days and counting).  I truly believe that I am at least 75% fat in the head and my body just followed....

Thanks for the tips...Going in with eyes wide open is my immediate goal!!!

It is definitely more mental than anything else. It's hard. Change is hard.

I think the most important part is to forgive yourself. For your past and for any present and future slip ups. For me, it's also important to build in celebration days. "cheats" some might call them, but I don't consider them cheats if I've planned for them. Nothing crazy. No "no holds barred" type stuff, but... a planned thing.

I have found that picking 1 goal and getting that nailed down then moving on to another goal has been very helpful.  First it was cutting out sweets, then the caffine, then beverages with meals.  Now I am on day 4 of cutting out grains.  I am finding that I substitute something else for whatever it is I lost.  More water instead of caffine drinks, a sweet milk chocolate protein drink with 0 carbs instead of surgary items.  Turning meals into a salad instead of using bread/pasta/rice.  It makes me wonder if finding a different crutch to lean on is the right way to go, but since I am pre-op I still have a large food storage container that demands to be filled. 

 Fit2lose,

I don't think you are substituting crutches at all, but rather substituting bad habits for good ones! 

At almost 4 years out, and 1 year with the sleeve, it is still very much a work in progress for me. I make mistakes regularly, not like I did preop, but I lost the old "I screwed up so I may as well binge now and start again Monday" mentality. Now if I eat something I know I shouldn't, I stop right there and make better choices the rest of the day.

Food will always be my drug of choice and as long as I stay aware of it and keep on top of it, I am in a better place. I will need be cured but I hope to stay in remission...I plan on working my ass off to stay here!

Edit that to say I will NEVER be cured. Damn smartphone autocorrect!

 Wow, you have done really well!